Humble Servant (Part 2 of 2)

While the disciples were arguing about who among them was the greatest, Jesus was quietly took a towel and a basin of water and began washing his friend's feet. This weekend on Truth for Life, Alistair Begg helps us understand what it means for the Son of God to be a humble servant.

Our study is rooted in the Gospel of John chapter 13. The roads of Palestine were un-surfaced. They were uncleaned. In dry weather, the traveler's feet would be dusty.

In wet weather, they would squelch through the mud, and they would be quite challenging. Consequently, the wearing of open sandals would bring their feet at the end of a journey into the context of a home in need of attention before they went very far. As a result of that, there were waterpots at the door.

The waterpots were there in order to be used for the washing of the feet, along with the waterpots. There was often a servant. The servant would then know what he was supposed to do, take the water, wash the feet, let the people in for the meal. If the servant wasn't present, then the person who was responsible for the home would then exercise due humility in fulfilling the role of the servant so that you, having been welcomed to the house, would enjoy the privileges. We've been doing much the same in enjoying the hospitality of someone around the lake. We've actually had one of those coolers with water in it all week, so that when we come up off the beach, we stand in the cooler and shake around a little so that our feet may then be presentable when we go into the house.

And despite how much I've asked my wife just to stand there and wash my feet for me, it just hasn't happened. We've been so disinterested in one another that the meal was already being served. It's within the context of the meal. You'll notice that.

He got up and took off his outer clothing and engaged in these things. Now, here's the real issue, and at this point we have to fasten down. We need to grasp the symbolism which Peter clearly misses. We need to grasp the symbolism which Peter clearly misses. Because if we miss it with him, then we miss the whole thing, and then it can just so easily become a form of moralism. Here's humility.

Why don't you try and be humble? It is a lesson in humility, but that is not ultimately what it is. You'll notice that the meal was being served. And while the meal was being served—verse 2, that is—in other words, it expresses the deliberate nature of the action of Jesus. In chapter 3, he's spoken about the need for spiritual birth. In chapter 4, about the nature of spiritual living water. In chapter 6, about spiritual bread—he who is the bread of life. And now he is addressing the issue of spiritual cleansing.

And the perplexity of Peter in verse 6 is understandable in that he confronts the incongruity of what is taking place. In other words, he recognizes what John the Baptist recognized when Jesus comes towards him to be baptized by him. And John the Baptist says, You come to be baptized by me? Shouldn't I be being baptized by you? And on that occasion, Jesus, who remembers, says, Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting to fulfill all righteousness. In other words, John, just do what I'm asking you.

This is the way it has to be. Now, in a similar vein, the perplexity of Peter is obvious. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, Lord, are you going to wash my feet? Or in the King James version, which I love, Lord, dost thou my feet wash? It just kind of rings somehow, doesn't it? Lord, dost thou my feet wash?

You're going to wash my feet? And the conversation you see is a classic illustration. It's part of the dramatic irony that you get in John's Gospel all over the place. For example, you see it in John chapter 4, where the woman and Jesus are talking at cross purposes. Jesus says, You know, if you knew who it was who was talking to you, you would ask him for a drink of water, and you'd never need water again.

And she says, Oh, I'd love to get that water, because I hate coming down here in the middle of the day. Well, they're talking at cross purposes. Jesus is talking about a water that will quench your spiritual thirst. She's thinking purely in physical terms. Jesus here is dealing with something at a spiritual level.

Peter is responding at an obviously physical level. And it is a classic illustration of the danger, the mistakes which emerge from conceiving in physical terms of that which is clearly spiritual in significance. That, incidentally, is the whole issue of Eat my body, eat my flesh.

We're not going to stop on that. And you will notice that Jesus tells them in verse 7, You don't realize now what I'm doing, but later you will understand. In other words, the penny's going to drop later on. That's the significance, incidentally, of what you find in John chapter 16, when Jesus says to them, I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth, and so on. In other words, that is an express promise for the apostles, so that they will be guided into the truth that to this point they've never fully got. And when they get it, then they'll be able to write it down so that in the letters, in the epistles, we will have an understanding of what unfolded in the Gospels. People come to John 16, and they say, Well, of course, he's going to guide us into all truth, as if some are another. That is for us. It's actually not ultimately for us. It's for the disciples.

They were the ones who had seen it all but didn't get it. What do you mean you washed my feet? What do you mean I need this? What do you mean you're going to suffer and die? You shouldn't be suffering and dying. And Jesus says, Well, you know, eventually the penny will drop. When the Spirit of God comes, he will lead you into all truth. And then when Peter begins to write his letter, he's able to say, Christ died for sins, once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God.

So you have the fact, plus the interpretation. Well, you see, at this point, he is absolutely at sea, hence his question. Now, let's be fair to Peter. He's aware of the incongruity that the situation presents. But he's dreadfully unaware of the incongruity of a disciple telling his Lord and Master what he may and may not do.

Right? Look at verse 8. "'No,' said Peter, you shall never wash my feet." Peter, this is not a good start, man. You've got a whole chronicle of these things going.

I mean, by now, surely you ought to get it. You've had the blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father is in heaven. There's an attaboy, followed immediately by, Get behind me, Satan!

And here he goes again. "'And now I am coming here to wash your feet?' Lord, dost my feet thou wash?" Yeah. No.

Okay. Peter, unless by means—and this is if you like the Alistair Begg expanded version of the verse—unless by means of my entire work of humiliation, of which this feet-washing is only a part, unless I cleanse you from your sins, you do not share with me in the fruits of my redemptive work. Now listen, as in verse 9, Peter swings with the pendulum right across to the other side.

It's standard Peter. "'Then, Lord, not just my feet, but I'll take the whole package, my hands and my head as well.'" Will you notice that even in this, Peter is reluctant to have Jesus do what Jesus is going to do? Jesus might legitimately say, I didn't say anything to you about your hands and your head, clown, and here to wash your feet. You know? First of all, I don't want my feet washed.

Then I want my own program. Peter is such a tremendous encouragement to many of us, isn't he? Big mouth plus fat head. Because he still completely misunderstands the meaning of the action. Jesus is not in this washing cleansing his disciples, but he is in this washing symbolizing that cleansing which is provided in the blood he is about to be shed. Years ago, I heard an address given by somebody, actually one of my friends, and he gave this address, and his address was, there are some things that can only be dealt with with a basin and a towel. And I wrote him a note, and I said, hey, how could you expound John 13 and leave it there? Because it's not about water and a basin. It's about the blood of the cross.

And unless you get to the blood of the cross, you've completely missed the point of the water and the basin and the towel. And he wrote back and said, cynically, I wish I was a genius like you that understood the Bible. I'm sorry, I'm just a poor peon, and I don't know what I'm talking about. And I don't ever want to play golf with you again. And it's actually only in the last four or five years that we have been reconciled to one another and talked with one another. That's the facts. I didn't write it in judgment.

I wrote it in the way that I want somebody to write to me, as they frequently do, and point out the missing links. So that's why Jesus then uses the imagery of the man who bathes. Verse 10, a person who is at a bath needs only to wash his feet, his whole body is clean. In other words, he didn't have to keep going and have a bath every twenty minutes.

What is he saying? He who is the one cleansed by the shedding of my blood, he who is justified by my grace, doesn't need to be cleansed totally again and again, but is in need of daily cleansing by the sanctifying work of the Spirit. That is why when sin enters into the life of the believer, we don't have to become a Christian all over again, in the same way that when your father says, I want you to bring the car home by eleven thirty, prompt, and you bring the car home at twelve thirty a.m., not prompt, the following morning at the breakfast table, we get a little bit of a problem. There is a cloud come down between father and son. The relationship is intact. He's still my dad. I'm still his son. But the enjoyment of the relationship has been impaired by my disobedience. I don't have to ask him to become my dad again.

I have to ask him to forgive me for the fact that I didn't do what he asked me to do, and it spoiled my relationship with him. Hence the importance of coming constantly to God in repentance and in faith. The Christian life is a life of daily repentance.

If it isn't, then we're not even awake. Because you can hardly get out of your bed without sin in your soul. So you have to come again. Back again for fresh cleansing. Now, what we understand—and we must move to a final point and do a close—is you will notice Jesus says, And you are clean, you are clean, but not every one of you. In other words, he says, You are the shearers in the redemption which I am coming to provide. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

That's the picture that is here. It is that cleansing which baptism portrays but does not perform. And it is that cleansing which ought to cause each of us to confront this question—namely, if this is a dramatic illustration of the cleansing that is provided by the blood of Jesus, have I been cleansed by Christ's blood?

Have I come to him and asked him to make real in my experience what he has made possible in his death? If you like, in the words of the old hymn, Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing flood? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Are your garments spotless?

Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? You say, Well, no, my garments are not spotless. Well, yes, they are, because remember, he gave you a robe of righteousness which you don't deserve.

He covered you over with a robe of Christ's righteousness. I have been saved from sin's penalty. I have been cleansed.

I don't need re-cleansed, as it were. And it is this that in this expression of humility Jesus is making clear. In fact, if you like, Peter's protest displays the pride of the man or the woman who will not come to Christ in this way, confident of their own ability to clean themselves up, confident of their own ability to put themselves right with God, instinctively convinced that they are in no need of any kind of divine cleansing. They would rather do something for God than admit that they are hopelessly and helplessly lost, unless God were to intervene and do something for them. In other words, they are the Naamans of the twenty-first century.

The Naamans of the twenty-first century. With their entourage, mm-mm, I am not going to go and dip myself in that filthy Jordan River, no matter who says it. No, I will not go to Christ and admit that I am unfit for heaven and unable to rectify it. My word, there must be other ways and other places that this entry gate of heaven may be approached.

No. No other door. No other way. No other guide to the realms of day. No other helper when tempted to stray.

No other friend but Jesus. Now, it is when we get all of that that we can then put the PS on and notice not only the humility Jesus displays and the clarity that he provides but the activity that he expects. And you'll notice his question in verse 12, when he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place, and he said, Do you understand what I have done for you? You call me teacher and Lord, and that's the right thing, for that's what I am. Now that I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I've set you an example that you should do as I've done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master. A messenger is not greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

Now, the question, of course, is, is Jesus here instituting a new ordinance, that of feet washing, as some today teach? I don't think so. It's my opinion. It's not a main thing or a plain thing, therefore I'm not prepared to go to the mat and die over the discussion, and I don't want to have the discussion with you afterwards.

I'll just let you know that immediately, because it's quite boring to me. I tell you the truth, he says, I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I think it's significant that he doesn't say that you should do what I have done for you. You should do as I have done for you. In the as is all of the symbolism and all of the notion and nature of humble service.

I think the correct application has to be there. I know that many believe other than that, or at least some do, and this very incident has its own meaning within its own context, whether it's repeated or not. It sets within the context and the culture of the time. I think this incident is similar, for example, to understanding 1 Corinthians 8 and the food offered to idols. How do you take the story of the food offered to idols written in the context of 1 Corinthians and make application of it in the twenty-first century in America? Because there isn't food offered to idols. What is the principle? In the immediate historical cultural expression, the principle is, don't offend your weaker brother. So if you get all tied up on the food offered to idols, you may miss the point of application. In the same way, we could have one of the most phenomenal disagreements about whether you should wash each other's feet or not and all get in a huff with one another and miss the fact that the whole point of the story was that we should serve one another in a selfless way, not argue with one another about who's right in terms of the interpretation of the food washing.

It's fantastic, really. We have the ability to mess things up, you know, just at the drop of a hat. No, I think if we understand straightforwardly that the central focus is on humility, and God in Christ looks for that to be a mark, a hallmark of our Christian experience, and that we understand in verse 17 that there is a blessedness that attends the life of humble service, then we're on the right track. After all, remember, Jesus says to his followers, you know, he says, at the end of the day, you're just unprofitable servants. You know, when you've done your best, you can only say, We only did what we were supposed to do. You know, why do you expect applause when you're finished?

You just did what you were asked to do. Oh, it's nice to say thank you and to commend one another, but that's for them to do. Let another praise you. You don't exalt yourself. No, Peter, when he finally got this—remember, he writes in his own letter in 1 Peter 5, and he says, Humble yourselves, therefore under God's mighty hand, that in due time he may exalt you.

Paul writes to the Romans, and he says, Don't any one of you think of yourselves more highly than you ought, but think of yourselves with sober judgment, according to the proportion of grace and wisdom and faith that God has given you, and then go ahead and exercise your responsibilities. Two quotes, and we're done. One from Samuel Rutherford, a Scotsman.

The other from David Wells, born in Rhodesia but probably an Englishman. Humility has nothing to do with depreciating ourselves and our gifts in ways we know to be untrue. You know, like, Oh, no, I couldn't play the piano.

I can't play the piano. Okay, it's not that. Even humble attitudes can be masks for pride. Humility is that freedom from ourself which enables us to be in positions in which we have neither recognition nor importance, neither power nor validity, and even experience deprivation, and yet have joy and delight. It is the freedom of knowing that we are not at the center of the universe, not even in the center of our own private universe. Good quote, huh?

Rutherford, in his journals, and in my little black book, this comes quote number one. If you listen to people preach, they very quickly will reveal their sins. This is quote number one in my black book. It reads, Be humbled, walk softly, down with your topsail, stoop, stoop. It is a low entry to go in at heaven's gates.

It is a low entry to go in at heaven's gates. This is the weekend edition of Truth for Life. Alistair Begg is teaching from John 13, presenting a message titled, Humble Servant.

In just a minute, Alistair will close with prayer, so please stay with us. If you missed any part of today's study, you can listen free of charge at truthforlife.org or through the Truth for Life mobile app. Simply search for the series titled, To Know Christ. At Truth for Life, we are committed to teaching God's Word clearly and directly.

We believe God works through the teaching of Scripture, first to convert believers, and then second to establish believers, thirdly to strengthen local churches. And with that in mind, we're excited to make available to you today a three-pack of books specifically designed to address the first point, introducing unbelievers to Jesus. The first book is called Have No Fear. The author provides us with practical tools for overcoming our reluctance to talk to others about Jesus. The second book is designed to share alongside a friend.

It's called The Word One to One. We'll include two copies of this book, one for you and one to give away. Learn how you can request this three-pack of books when you visit our website truthforlife.org.

Again, that's truthforlife.org. Now, here's Alistair with the final word of prayer. Father, thank you this morning, again, that we can turn to the Bible. Thank you that we're able to go out of here and read it again for ourselves and see what's true and helpful and sensible. Grant that what is true may find a resting place in our thinking, that if anything is untrue or unclear or unhelpful, that you might help us just to banish it from our recollection. And we pray that we might be found in Christ and increasingly like Christ this morning, particularly in terms of humble service. And we walk out in the strength and power of Jesus, in whose name we pray. Amen. I'm Bob Lapeen. Be sure to join us again next weekend as Alistair turns to Luke, chapter seven, to describe Jesus as our compassionate shepherd. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life, where the Learning is for Living.